Uzbekistan Airways promises all results will remain confidential

Boarding a plane can already feel like an invasion of privacy, as you remove your shoes and belt to shuffle through security, holding your trousers up while border control officers snap on their surgical gloves and size up your sphincter.

Uzbekistan Airways is taking it to the next level by weighing all passengers at the departure gate. Flyers will be directed to a 'special weighing machine' which will calculate their average weight with their hand baggage.

The airline promises that "full confidentiality of results is guaranteed", with the weighing machine only categorising passengers by sex and into adult and child groups. Uzbekistan Airways claims the measure is being introduced in the name of ensuring flight safety.

It's not known whether heavier passengers will be charged a fee, or perhaps even be excluded from some flights. The airline also hasn't made it clear what might happen if the total weight of passengers and their hand luggage exceeds the aircraft's weight limit.

This isn't the first time an airline has monitored its passengers weights. Samoa Air has charged passengers by their weight since 2013, and the Pacific national airline allows passengers to disclose their weight before they're measured on scales at the airport, allowing them to pay per kilogram.